


Run Home

by Drake



Series: Life of a Runner [1]
Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: F/M, but I heard at least two people wanted second person so there's that one too, literally the same fic with pronouns switched, this is the third person one with fem!Five
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2013-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-06 04:26:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1102382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drake/pseuds/Drake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's blood in the air and a ringing in Five's ears, and amidst all the noise there's one thing louder than it all.<br/>"Run."</p><p>Season 1, Mission 9</p>
            </blockquote>





	Run Home

**Author's Note:**

> everyone's done this fic but who cares i don't here have another one
> 
>  
> 
> 2nd person version here -> http://archiveofourown.org/works/1102373

There's blood in the air and a ringing in Five's ears, and amidst all the noise there's one thing louder than it all.

"Run."

So that's what Five does. Runs and runs, away from New Canton and a horde of zombies alike, but most importantly, away from _Abel._ Away from Sam, and what was fast becoming home. And it's in a quiet spot, as the sun gets lower and dyes the world orange, that Five realizes that the stench of blood hadn't been left behind in New Canton. And that there's something warm on her side. That's blood, alright, but worse than that, it's _Five's_ blood. A lot of Five's blood.

And that's...well, that's almost enough to stop Five for a moment. But over that is the knowledge that if she stops, she's dead. So she runs, even though now that she's categorized that smell as coming from her, it's started burning, a lance of agony through her side worse than any cramp she's had before. Five tries to ignore it, and starts to swing around, in what she hopes will be a clear route home. It's late now, the sun gone and the last warmth of the day fading out with it. Five feels it, foreign and strange, because she's never run at night before, not at Abel.

And she sees it, a mark scratched into a tree, the crescent moon with an x through it that meant _not safe after dark._ Great. Fantastic. She didn't have an operator to pull her through this, and each subsequent tree she passed looked more and more inviting. Maybe she could climb into one and just sleep the night off.

A rest would do her good, she decides, slowing down to scramble up into a tree before a zomb sees her do it. But just as she gets her foot against the trunk, her headset crackles to life, and the sound is enough to make her freeze, straining to hear.

"Runner Five...Come in Runner Five...Come in...If you can hear me, Runner Five..."

The static rushes in waves over the sound, but it's _Sam._ Sam's still calling out for her, although she hasn't responded for hours, hasn't been in range. She tries now, a quiet, "I'm here, Sam," because she's learned zombies are more active by night, but he doesn't hear her. Too far, still.

And that tree doesn't look so inviting anymore.

"I don't even know if you're alive..."

Not when Sam's sitting there, _hoping_ she's alive and dreading she's not in the same breath. Not when waiting for the morning will only be proof that she's gone. She makes a decision, reaching to pull off her jacket and wrap it tightly around her bleeding side.

"There'll be no way for you to get in...and we'll have to watch..."

No time for anything else, and she doesn't have the supplies to waste on botched attempts to fix herself up in the dark. She sets off at a jog, the crisp fall air freezing her lungs, and  ignores the lance of pain with every land of her left foot. If she didn't make it before that swarm Sam was talking about, it was over.

Sometimes it was hard. In the silences between Sam's static, when it seemed like her legs would give out from sheer exhaustion after running for at least eight hours, now. Sometimes it was all she could do to keep going until she heard Sam's voice again.

"I just called you my friend...is that cool with you?"

It kept her going a while longer. Knowing that if she kept moving, Sam would keep talking. He'd tell her about failing engineering and waking up Janine to ask about ice cream roll cakes. She'd get to hear more about him.

"If you're still Runner Five, keep running."

And that was all it took. The tail of zombies that had started to gather behind her - no doubt driven by the stink of blood she left behind her, a trail that any shambler or sprinter in the area could pick up- started to grow, and the moans of hunger were getting louder, almost enough to drown out Sam.

"Who'll be left to remember you?"

She shouldn't be running back to Abel dripping blood, leaving a trail for any undead to follow. But she didn't have a choice. It was either bring a few extra zoms to the usual swarm, or die.

"Run, Runner Five. Run on home. If you can."

She put on a burst of speed, even if the effort drew a muffled cry of pain. She would make it back. For Sam. He didn't need to lose another Five.

"I've gotta be honest...we're losing hope here."

" _I'm coming_ ," she tried to answer, but heard nothing in response. Still too far. Unsurprising, since she could barely see the red beacon on the tower from here. But she still had time. It wasn't over yet. It wasn't over until she was bitten.

"No one stays sane through this, Five."

 _I know. I'm almost there. Hang on, Sam._ Funny, that her first thought would be to try and comfort him. To save _him_ the pain of losing another runner. Not fear of her dying a horrible death. That was almost...easier.

"Oh my _god_ , is that...Runner Five, I can see you!"

Relief. It rang in her ears, in the dead (ha,ha) quiet of the night, punctuated only by zombie moans. Sam's elation.

It also meant he hadn't seen her hasty bandage yet. Too dark, probably.

"Run, run, _run._ "

The last ' _run_ ' is both louder and fainter. Sam's voice had risen as if he were shouting, but there was also a clattering, a door slamming, and silence. The _'raise the gates_ ' she heard next wasn't from the comms shack. It was from within Abel.

She pushed herself into a sprint, the hairs on her neck standing up at the sound of moans so close behind her. She's limping now, her left leg taking shorter, lighter steps in hope of alleviating the pain in her side from running so fast. But the gates were raising, and bullets were raining down around her - friendly, _protective_ bullets this time - and she understood suddenly what she'd heard.

Sam was standing right in the gate, looking terrified and hopeful at the same time, ready to pull her in as they slammed the gates shut if need be.

That also meant he saw the blood. His eyes widened as she stepped through the gates and they slammed shut, and she finally slowed down. The blind adrenaline high she'd been on vanished, stretched too thin for hours, and  her legs started to give out on her even as she jogged toward Sam.

"We've got you Runner Five! You're _home_."

He caught her as her legs finally gave, despite seeing the blood, despite fearing infection, and all she could do was cling onto him, breathing heavily. His arms gripped her tightly, both holding her up and squeezing the life out of her.

"I thought you...I thought you'd gone grey," he whispers against her hair, and she nods. "You're not...about to go grey, are you?" he follows, looking in concern at his side.

She shook her head, murmuring, "Bullet. I probably would have, though.  Considered napping in a tree until morning. Probably would've fallen out."

Sam laughs, shaking his head as Five catches her breath, and tries to not rely so much on Sam to stay standing, considering the crowd that was starting to gather, pulled out of sleep by the commotion.

"If you hadn't kept talking, just...just talking, I wouldn't have made it back." She tells him, standing up and looking him in the eyes. He shakes his head.

"You would've found a way. You're Runner Five."

 


End file.
